AUSSIE ace Rhys Williams has never taken his foot off the accelerator during the international break.

Day after day, the 22-year-old has been pounding the boards in the Boro’s Rockliffe Park gym while his team-mates have enjoyed a welcome breather.

It’s all part of an ongoing exercise programme which Williams must stick to, to ensure his fitness and availability.

His 11-month nightmare, sidelined by a pelvic problem, has ended with his remarkable return to first team action.

But the hard work in the gym must go on and on.

Williams said: “The lads were off last week but I was in nearly every day.

“I can’t afford to slacken off and put myself at risk of it happening again.

“So that’s why I’ve been in every day to work on it.

“It’s something that’s there all the time. Even in training I’m wary of it.

“But I don’t want to give less than 100% in anything I do.”

He added: “The international break has still come at the right time for me.

“I’ve had three and a bit games in a very short period of time, after being out for almost a year.

“I think my performances have been OK since I came back but it’s a lot of football to play in a short period.

“The break has given me the chance to get in some rest.”

The exercises are nothing, however, to the agonies that Williams has suffered during his long vigil to conquer the problem.

He admitted: “It was a nightmare. There was a stage when I thought that I would never get back again.

“When I was in Australia I wondered whether it would be better just to stay there and play in the A League.

“But people at the club helped me to get through it, like Willo Flood, who was going through something similar, and our physio Grant Downie.

“My girlfriend Sas helped by encouraging me as well and in the end I got there.

“But you can’t sit back and think everything is all right again.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am now, and I’ve been told that I will have to keep exercising and monitoring it for the next year to 18 months.

“I’ve got to keep working on the muscles and strengthening them.”

Williams, who played in midfield before the pelvic problem arrived, has been a revelation in his comeback games at centre-back.

It creates a dilemma for manager Tony Mowbray in trying to identify the Aussie’s best position for what hopefully will be a promotion push next season.

Williams has no intentions of pushing himself one way or the other, saying: “I am happy just to be playing, whether it’s at the back or in midfield. I’ll play anywhere the gaffer wants me to play.

“I think I can do a job in either position.

“I was an attacking midfielder back home in Australia but when I came here I switched to right-back to get games.

“I played in midfield when I came back from Burnley and I was there was most of the time before the problems developed.

“I think I’ve done OK at centre-back, though I probably had an easy introduction against Derby because they didn’t cause us too many problems.

“Portsmouth was a lot different because we had to work hard for the point, and then I was up against Danny Graham against Watford.

“I feel that I’ve settled in there and it’s been great to play alongside Seb and Groundsy.

“But, as I say, I will enjoy playing anywhere just to be in the team.”

Williams has settled back in remarkably quickly, after initially returning as a second half sub at Reading on March 5.

He said: “It wasn’t the best situation to come into a game at Reading.

“But for me personally it was like a big sigh of relief because I was able to say to myself ‘I am back’.

“It was the same when I started against Derby. Once you start playing again you realise exactly how much you need it.”

Now Williams is likely to become a key player in Mowbray’s gradually changing line-up. He will probably not play in all nine remaining games this season, because they come thick and fast.

But he’ll be a useful player to have around in ensuring Boro stay in the Championship. Two wins should be enough but Williams said: “We shouldn’t be thinking about just getting two more wins.

“I am very ambitious. I want to be playing with the lads at the highest possible level.

“I’m not happy with where we are in the league. We’ve got nine games left and we need to see how far we can get up the league before the season ends.

“We’ve been playing decent football. We have to approach every one of the games looking to win them.

“We have to finish the season strongly and then we have to carry it on next season and try to take the club back to where it belongs.”

Williams is likely to hang on to his centre-back role against Leicester on Saturday, adding: “It’s a massive game for us but these are the teams we need to be beating if we are to carry it on next season.

“Obviously it’s going to be a hard game as well. They’ve got Yakubu up front and Kamara making his debut.

“I’m looking forward to playing against them if the gaffer selects me.”